This time he didn't require taking two steps at once as he confidently walked along with Youra towards the interrogation room. "All that matters is your confidence, Youra," He spoke reassuringly. "If anything, you can always choose to skip a question, and besides I'll be there with you." She nodded, smiling at him slightly before straightening her dress and casually strolling inside the interrogation room.

As Jungkook was about to enter behind her a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Not this time, Romeo," Daehoon snickered, pointing at the other for door Jungkook to open. Jungkook sighed, trying to peek inside the room but failed, opening the other door instead as he walked near the one-way mirror, staring at his client.

"Good morning, Youra," The team leader greeted as she bowed her neck in response, smiling a little. "You seem rather prepared this time." He stated, keeping his files on the table and taking his seat.

"I am," She replied in the affirmative.

"Good, I wouldn't want it to be any longer than necessary. That being said I hope you are aware of your rights?" She nodded. "Alright, let's get over with this then."

Youra took a deep breath, calmer than last time but somewhere her wariness caused her to be nervous. The room did not haunt her as much, and neither did the only lightbulb hanging from the centre of the ceiling disturb her. She remembered Daehoon being attentive to her overall behaviour when she last met him and this time was no different as she saw his eyes set on her fiddling fingers. She stopped fiddling with them, cleared her throat, and waited for him to question her.

"First things first, how have you been coming along with Doctor Jung?" His voice hadn't changed even a bit, it was still soft but cautious.

"It is nice meeting him. Also that having his guidance has helped me clear my head a little, organize my thoughts and emotions as well as open about them." She voiced out, satisfied with her answer as she stared back at him with an equal amount of concentration.

"Good thing, I talked to him about you earlier this morning and he said that you had been taking the sessions seriously and have made a lot of progress since the first time you guys met. I'm glad he could help you." His words were generous and made her smile. "Now, Miss Song, we have found some evidence back at your home and on your mother's body." She nodded quietly, anticipating what was to come next. "You know that we have CCTV footage showing that you left the house somewhat near the time of your mother's death. And may I include that you were hurrying out of there. Secondly, we've found your fingerprints on her dress. Do you have something to say about it?"

"Yes, sir, I remember that after I entered my home, I went to the kitchen and got myself a glass of water... but as I was about to drink from it I heard a scream and the glass happened to fall out of my hand. I went towards its direction and saw my... mother... lying on the ground,: she paused before taking in a deep breath. "There was blood. A lot of it, pooling around her head. I didn't know what to do so I ran towards her and held her unconscious body. I called out for her but..." Daehoon noticed the increasing sadness in her voice, afraid that it might be just another one of her acting skills but what caught his attention were her eyes. They seemed to be lost as if living through the same thing all over again and also convincing him to contemplate his thoughts before declaring her a liar or the otherwise.

"Water?" He offered, passing a sealed bottle in her direction and she politely thanked him for the gesture. "Well your story does explain some things, Miss Song, also your fingerprints on the shattered glass that you mentioned but what surprises me is your blood on the flooring of the hallway. Could you explain that?" Daehoon sat quietly as he saw her expressions change from surprise to realization.

Youra felt familiar with his question, she remembered him asking about her wounds the previous session and this was no different. Maybe he was just making sure of everything she had said back then and if that happened to be the case, she believed her truth was enough this time.

The nightmare that she had had the last time felt somehow connected to her blood on the floor. She remembered losing her balance in the nightmare and hitting her head and that seemed to be the most plausible reason at that moment. "When I was running, I think-"

"You think? Sorry, Miss Song but we aren't working on suppositions here."

"I apologise, sir, I believe I lost my balance and hit my head on the floor." She completed her answer, looking at him intently to read his expression but Daehoon didn't give away a hint.

"And why were you running, Miss song?" He questioned, making sure that he had written everything that was deemed important, glad that the woman could answer the questions with firm affirmation this time, but what he didn't notice was the fall of Youra's confidence.

Youra didn't have an answer. She knew she had seen somebody's silhouette that night but what if it was only a part of her imagination? What if that wasn't why she was running but rather because she had done something terrible?

 Daehoon looked at her in confusion, waiting for an answer but that never came. He saw her staring at her hands, eyes wide and eyebrows drawn together. "Miss song?"

"Huh? Yes, I-" she sighed, closing her eyes shut. "I don't know, sir."

⌘

The aura shifted from distressing to tense as soon as Youra left and her father entered. It was not only Jungkook who felt the urge to be absolute and particular about everything around Minseok. One could say that the impulse made itself known every now and then around the old Navy chief. "Good Morning, Sir," Daejoon pronounced as the other took a seat opposite to him and nodded. Once done with reciting his rights and making sure that all formalities were fulfilled, he got straight to the point. "Where were you that night, Mr Song?"

"I wasn't in the city. I was in Suwon, at a friend's house."

"When did you find out about your wife's death?" Daejoon noticed the change in his strict demeanour.

"The next morning, while I was returning to Seoul. I received a call from the police about her demise." His voice went dry and his colour went pale as he focused on his entangled hands resting in his lap.

"Since we are deeming it to be a murder case, Sir, do you doubt anyone in particular?"

"No, Officer. We never had any enemies. None that I'm aware of. I always knew that all three of us were in some... risky line of work, especially me and my daughter. But this is not the work of someone in my knowledge. My work was mostly overseas, and it is next to impossible for people I dealt with to know my personal identity. Besides, I was never someone involved in physical attributes of the navy,"

"And Miss Song, sir?" Daehoon mumbled, eyebrows drawn together in curiosity.

"Youra has had some fan following in her course of time, but... never have we come across something that would threaten our lives."

"Your daughter, Song Youra, is unable to inform us about her entire routine that day. Dr. Jung says she might have had a concussion and lost her memories of the events that took place before she hit her head. As much as I want to believe that, whatever she has given us until now is absolutely vague. Do you think-"

"No, officer. My wife and daughter shared a really pure relationship. Her mother loved her more than anything. She'd go to her shootings to support her, she'd take care of her throughout the day, every movie that Youra has worked in was supervised by her as the main writer, and she'd make sure that everything Youra got was the best. The same goes for our daughter. She's obedient, respectful and lovable. She never let us down and to do something so dreadful... You'd be wasting your time by investigating her." He sounded so certain that even Daejoon dropped the idea of doing so for a second until he remembered all the shreds of evidence he had shown Youra that day.

"Alright, Sir. That would be all for today. Thank you for coming here." Daejoon stood up, shaking hands with her father as they bid a formal farewell.

A hard thump resonated through the room as he sat back down, heaving a sigh. He took a few sips from his own bottle, took out a pen and scribbled in his diary, making sure to write down every detail. He was caught up in a dilemma, especially about Youra. Hoseok had told him about her concussion and that leading to her memory loss a day before and that pretty much explained her lack of information. But it bugged him that it was becoming a hurdle in furthering the case.

"May I come in, sir?"

He saw Taehyung peeking in the room from the partially ajar door and he nodded, gesturing him to sit. "Good to meet you, Mr Kim."

"Likewise, sir."

"I wouldn't make this long because there's only one thing to be asked." Daejoon sighed before looking up right into the other man's eyes.

"What were you doing at the Song's residence that night?"

⌘

Snow fell like thundering bullets on him and he timidly accepted his fate. He wasn't much familiar with his surroundings for it was only once a year that he could gather his courage to visit his past. And it was only a moment for which he could maintain his feelings until the walls he has tried to build around them got crushed under the weight of guilt, remorse, melancholy but majorly emptiness.

Guilt because it was months after the accident that he understood what went wrong.

Remorse because he was the one who committed the crime.

The melancholy that was spread invariably across the expanse of his heart at the loss of a loved one. Not just a loved one, the only loved one.

And emptiness that had come into existence ever since that loved one has left him.

"I am a warrior, I have fought my fight", his voice was feeble as a lone tear fell on his cheek, "I have ended my course and now I can rest." He still remembered the smallest detail, how the line was supposed to be said, how serious he was supposed to sound while reciting it and how excruciating it became over two years. No, two years, four months, and twelve days, Jungkook corrected himself.

It was a line from her poetry book, one that she'd repeat very often. And the one that she told him would be her epitaph.

"Why are you even talking about death out of nowhere?" Jungkook sounded irritated, clearly busy with work yet still turning around furiously to look at her image in the mirror, across the room.

"I don't know? Telling you, just in case, you know." Hyein giggled at the sight of his angry-confused expression.

"Hyein, I won't let you!" He declared, standing upright and taking slow calculated steps towards her.

"You won't let me what?" She asked, focusing back on brushing her hair.

"Die before I do... You cannot leave me."

Hyein stopped when Jungkook kneeled beside her, placing his head on her lap and wrapping his arms around her petite waist. "I won't let you leave me."

He felt sorry. Sorry for lying, for letting her hold onto some hope that wasn't even truly there, for making her believe in every promise that he broke, and for being the jerk he tried so hard not to be.

But he knew that feeling sorry was not enough. He was a pathetic, selfish, and dumb-witted moron who, even if he tried, could've done nothing less bad than what he did.

A failure who now witnessed his life in front of him - buried, six feet under the surface. And it ached him, knowing that the tears he had been shedding all along would never get to repent his ignorance. It was yet another act of foolishness, being stuck in the same position for so long. He believed if only he could have cried enough tears if only he could have grieved a little longer... if only he could have lived up to his promises, time wouldn't have taken away what he loved the most.

Or maybe it would have been better if time had stopped back then, in that room. And he would have done nothing but rethink all his decisions, probably given up on his dreams had he known the cost while peacefully lying in the arms of his lover. 

"Hyein... I've got something for you," She couldn't control her giggles even if her consciousness told her otherwise, looking at Jungkook all red with what she concluded was shyness. He tugged onto the collar of his shirt, clearing his throat before taking a deep breath. He looked exhausted as if he had run a mile, sweat dripping from his forehead and a scar peeking its way through under his folded sleeves. "See, I didn't forget! I was just quite... busy with assignments and stuff."

"It's no problem, idiot, you didn't have to!" She ruffled his moist hair, smiling at him as the beacon of his life and Jungkook could've sworn he could hear the church bells ringing at some distance. 

"Of course, I did," His lips lifted in a sheepish smile as he looked at the small box in his hands, "it is our first anniversary together."

"Reminiscing the good old days, buddy?"

Jungkook was pulled out of his trance immediately. He hadn't realized he had company but the sound of a familiar voice made it known that it wasn't bothersome. 

"Hyung?" He didn't try drying his tears as he turned around and slammed his body into his friend's, quivering and shaking with a greater amount of hatred for himself that he had never let go of. There they stood in the cemetery with undefining silence in their hearts but the loudness of rain falling on the umbrella the older used to shade the younger whose sobs didn't seem to shy away as he buried his face in the other's coat.

"Quiet down, big baby," He could've sworn he heard the angel giggling and a hand of warmth slide up and down his back in a comforting motion. "How long would you punish yourself for something that wasn't your fault?"

"But it was my fault," Jungkook replied, parting away from the warmth that shielded him from his sins for a little while.

"Jung-"

"Can we just not try to justify it, Jimin Hyung? Because it isn't justifiable in my eyes, at least." He started walking away from the grave, not daring to look back for one last time.

Jimin nodded at that, quietly following behind his friend as they made their way towards Jungkook's car. He sat inside, looking up at the younger one before saying what Jungkook had been hearing for quite some time, "Hyein's death was never your fault Jungkook, it was just the cruelty of that moment that took her away from us. We couldn't have stopped it, not me, not you, no one at all. But above all, know it in your heart that even if you blame yourself, she knows it better than you that you would've risked everything just to get her back. After all, she loved you and mainly she knew you." 

Jungkook sat silently, the same as how he would sit every time Jimin would try convincing him to forgive himself. But in his mind what lingered was an unanswerable question, a question that he wished someone could answer only to make him feel better,

'But did I?'

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